Fire Burning
by Spottedeyes
Summary: She glanced at Draco, "just remember this, Draco, there is nothing worse than the feeling of regret. We haven't gone anywhere together so far, and we've already been plagued by it's horrible, bitter taste on day one."
1. Chapter 1

Fire Burning

Chapter 1: Hello, goodbye

Strong afternoon sunlight shimmered across the small town of Pallet, complimenting the serenity of the peaceful town. The pidgey sang their songs beneath the clear, blue sky as they perched themselves on the roofs of the friendly, laid back townsfolk's houses.

It was the perfect day for Pyra to finally come home. Despite the burs that clung to her backpack and the sunburns that decorated her pale skin, she was still smiling. She hadn't seen her mother nor her twin sister, Leaf, in ages. Living with their cousin, Bebe, in Sinnoh had been fun in all, but she felt that it was time to come home.

She had considered journeying in Sinnoh, but it just didn't feel right, it wasn't home. Besides, she wanted her mother to be there to fuss over her and demand that she call her every day. Pyra snickered to herself, her mother's fretful-nature had been one of the reasons she had gone to live with her easy-going cousin. Bebe had let Pyra do basically anything she wanted. Bebe had no problem when Pyra dyed her formally brown hair blonde and started wearing colored contacts to cover up her brown eyes, something her mother wouldn't have ever let Pyra do. She'd never given her a curfew, never set boundaries with her, nothing. As long as she didn't have parties over at their small apartment in Hearthome City, Bebe didn't care, why, she could even come home wasted and she would probably shrug it off. Pyra had learned the hard way with plenty of things that most parents would at least warn their children about. But Bebe wasn't a parent, if anything, she was more like a roommate.

A light breeze blew some of her blonde locks in her viridian-colored contacts, which she promptly swept away. Humming lightly to herself, she pulled her yellow hat down on her head, as the wind had loosened it. Her hands gripped the straps of her tawny backpack, her fingers sinking into the small imprints that had formed from all the times she'd rubbed at the straps. It'd become a habit of hers, as had shifting her empty pokéball belt around her waist while she walked. Pyra had always been a person who always had to have some sort of fidget-trinket to play with, and she had never liked the idea of carrying stress balls around or wearing bracelets, so she'd constantly fiddle around with her backpack and belt.

Pyra smiled as she remembered how excited Leaf and their mother was to hear that she was finally coming home after four years of living with Bebe. Her mother of course was ecstatic that her daughter was coming home and promised to make Pyra's favorite meal that evening. Leaf was also excited, even more so actually, promising her sister to show her around Pallet. She gave a content sigh at the thought of laying in her own bed rather than Bebe's sofa-bed. Pyra couldn't help but wonder if her bedding was the same as it was when she had been twelve, charmander-printed. Charmander had always been one of her favorite Pokémon while Leaf had adored bulbasaur, hoping for it to be her first Pokémon. She always thought it was ironic that she loved fire types and her name was Pyra, a spinoff of the stem-word pyro, and that Leaf loved grass types, and her name was… Leaf. It was like their parents were psychic.

The blonde looked down at the pokétch, ready to flip through the apps until she found where she'd written her family's address. She was a tad embarrassed that she didn't remember what house she'd grown up in, but it'd be bad if she went knocking at the wrong house. She stifled a gasp of surprise when she found that her pokétch was dead. She cursed under her breath at herself for playing games on it on the plane ride to Viridian City. Knowing not much could be done with it, Pyra began to search for her sister's house manually, as she'd seen names written on the mailboxes.

Pyra quickly took notice of how well the small town was taken care of, it was a pleasant surprise coming from such a big city; although Hearthome was a nicer big city, it still harbored its fair share of graffiti.

Pyra glanced at one of the houses as the front door opened. A boy that looked to be her age strode confidently out the front door, his spiked up brown hair swaying in the slight breeze. Her heart sped up, realizing that he could know Leaf. He quickly noticed Pyra's staring and tossed her a wink as he walked away from the house and further up the neighborhood. She choked back a blush as she blinked, watching him stupidly before breaking into a run.

"Wait!"

The boy turned towards her, wearing a smirk. "Well, well, well, who's this?" He asked smugly.

Pyra ignored his question, something she'd become rather skilled at. "Um, would you happen to know Leaf Green?"

His smirk turned to a frown. "Leafy? What would anyone want with her? She's boring as hell."

She glared at him, "she's- you know what? I'll find her house on my own."

The boy shrugged, tucking his hands into his pockets and continuing up the street. He didn't stick around, which Pyra was grateful for. She didn't even know him and she already hated him.

"You looking for Leaf?" Another voice asked from behind.

Pyra nearly leapt out of her skin as she whirled around to see another boy her age. He had hair the color of soot with crimson eyes and wore a rather blank expression.

"Yes…?" Pyra asked, eyeing him carefully.

"Leaf lives right over here." The boy said simply, silently beckoning for the blonde to follow him.

She gave a curt nod and followed him up the street, passing by several smaller houses before stopping at one of the bigger houses.

"She should be in there." He said, leaving Pyra alone in front of the Green household.

"Thanks." Pyra replied, although she doubted he heard her.

Her green orbs flickered to the door. Leaf said that their mother had left the door unlocked, so Pyra gripped the handle and opened the door with ease.

"Hello?" Pyra asked, her voice echoing throughout the house.

Pyra's face was quickly taken hostage by a grin as Viola, her mother's vulpix, came running down the stairs, yipping happily. The girl immidately got down on her knees, hugging the soft fire-type as Viola showered her in licks.

"Pyra!" The voice of Leaf cried, promptly followed by the sound of shoe on wood.

"Leaf!" Pyra yelled back, quickly got to her feet and wrapping her arms around Leaf's torso; she did the same. Pyra couldn't help but frown when she saw that Leaf had outgrown her by about an inch or so.

"When did you get taller than me?" Pyra asked, her eyes flooding with mock jealousy.

Pyra knew she was short, but she hadn't always been. She personally liked to blame Leaf since she had shared the womb with her, claiming that she'd taken all of her nutrients away and stunted her growth. Pyra of course knew that her theory was way off, and had linked her slightly stunted growth to all the coffee she had with Bebe. She started to drink a lot of the beverage just days after she had arrived in Sinnoh, quickly going from one cup in the morning to several throughout the day.

Leaf waved her off, "don't act surprised. I was had an inch on you when I last saw you too."

"Yeah, yeah I know." Pyra huffed, grimacing when she remembered when she realized that she hadn't grown in a year.

Pyra looked around for their mother, expecting her to come by any second now. "Where's mom?" She asked.

"Oh, well you know how Pallet doesn't have a Pokémart? Well they don't have a grocer either, and she needed split-peas for the soup so she left. She usually takes three hours or so, and she left around an hour ago since we weren't expecting you so early… but at least that gives us time for me to show you around town." Leaf said cheerfully, giving Viola a quick pat before opening the door.

"Sounds good." Pyra nodded, tossing her sullied backpack beside the door and slipping past the door.

The familiar warm autumn breeze greeted Pyra and Leaf. Leaf quickly started to walk back down the street, a broad smile stretched across her facial features; she even had a bouncy skip to her step, a rare thing for the typically quiet and reserved girl to do. Pyra smirked, "someone missed me."

Leaf frowned at Pyra for a brief moment, "well you've been gone for four years! You didn't even come home for Christmas or our birthday or anything, it's only natural that I'm excited."

Pyra felt a slight pang of guilt form in the pit of her stomach. She admitted that she thought about coming home once or twice in the first year and a half, but her stubborn streak kept her from doing so or admitting it.

She cleared her throat, eager to push past the topic. "So you said you had some nice neighbors, where are they?" Pyra asked, recalling the boy who'd helped her find Leaf's house.

Leaf brightened, "yeah, I've got to introduce you to Daisy and Red! Red lives closest, so I'll take you to his house first."

Pyra's smirk returned to her face, "'him'? Leaf I didn't know-"

"Don't finish that sentence." Leaf interrupted, giving Pyra a light glare.

The blonde shrugged, an innocent look sprawled across her features, "I don't know what your problem is, I was just going to say that I didn't know you hung around boys. And I don't see any shame in it, back in Hearthome I spent a lot of time with these two guys, Haze and Blake."

Leaf gave a small huff, crossing her arms as she slowed her skip to a normal-looking walk. "Well you never told me about who you were friends with in Hearthome."

Pyra rolled her eyes, "you sound like mom, you know that?"

"What so are you going to leave again? Because last time-"

"I'm not leaving again, Leaf! I literally just got back to Kanto earlier today, what makes you think I'm just going to jump right back on another plane to Sinnoh!" Pyra snapped.

Leaf merely stared at her sister. "I was joking, Pyra."

Pyra forced the blood rushing to her cheeks down, not willing to show her embarrassment. "I know… I was too?"

It was Leaf's turn to roll her eyes, "right. Anyway, Red lives-"

"Leaf… are you trying to get me a stalker?" A voice asked jokingly.

The two turned around to see the same boy that had helped Pyra find her mother's and Leaf's house earlier.

The boy strode over to Leaf, lightly cuffing her arm. "You can't just go around giving random people my address," he said, lowering his voice as his crimson orbs met Pyra's green.

Pyra couldn't help but laugh, "says the guy who told me where Leaf lived."

Leaf stepped back from the boy whom Pyra presumed to be Red, her face wearing a look of mock horror. "You told her where I lived? Traitor!"

Red smiled at her before directing his attention back at Pyra, the brightness that his smile held dimming a little. "So who's that?"

"That's Pyra, my sister." Leaf said, resting an elbow on Pyra's shoulder and leaning on her.

Pyra roughly shoved Leaf off, watching proudly as she stumbled back a little. "Yup."

Leaf quickly caught her balance, pulling her white hat back down and tucking a few loose strands of her straight brown hair behind her ears. Once recomposed, she spoke again. "Pyra, that's Red, but it seems like you've already met him."

She nodded, "yeah, my pokétch died on the way over so I couldn't look up the address, and I tried asking this other guy, but… well that doesn't matter. After wandering around for a few more seconds, Red asked if I was looking for you, I told him yes, then he took me home without another word."

"Another guy?" Leaf asked curiously, "what'd he look like?"

Pyra noticed that even Red had taken up some sort of interest in Leaf's question. "He had brown, spiked up hair-"

Leaf sighed, "Gary. His name's Gary, and he's a complete asshole so don't waste your time talking to him."

"Yeah, I sort of got that. As soon as I mentioned you, he asked why I'd want to see you and called you boring." Pyra said, her gaze drifting back in the direction that she'd seen him last.

"Figures." Leaf grumbled, folding her arms neatly in front of her chest.

Pyra's gaze flickered to Red to see his reaction, but his previously happy expression had been wiped from his face and replaced with a blank, unreadable look. It was a little unsettling to say the least.

"So… you said you had another friend? Petunia or something?" Pyra asked.

Leaf perked up again, "It's Daisy, actually, but you're right about needing to meet her." She turned to Red. "You want to come along?"

Red shook his head, "can't. Gary wanted to talk to me up by the lab."

Pyra gave a slight sigh of relief, as the boy seemed nice, but a little off in her eyes.

"Well how about Pyra and I come with you? He probably just wants to brag about something for a minute, then after that we can go to visit Daisy." Leaf suggested, a light twinkle of suspicion glittering in her deep brown orbs.

Red merely shrugged, "if you want to you can."

"Alright, Pyra would you mind?" Leaf asked.

Pyra gave a slow nod, wiping her face clean of any irritation; Pyra had been gone for ages, if Leaf wanted to toddle after Red for a while, then she wasn't going to be the one to get in the way. "Why not? If Red's talking about Professor Oak's lab then I say we go. I wanted to see it anyway." That last bit hadn't been a lie, Pyra dreamt of meeting the renowned professor for years now. Sure, she'd met him once or twice when she was younger, but it wouldn't compare to meeting him at her current age of sixteen.

On that note, Red led the two back up the street past the Green household and towards Professor Oak's lab.

XXX

"I'm surprised that he wasn't waiting outside the lab." Leaf commented as the three stepped through the doors of the lab.

Pyra blinked, "would he usually?"

"Trust me, Gary would never pass up a chance to brag about his 'excellence'. The guy lives for it." Leaf muttered, tugging at her skirt. Pyra smiled at her actions, comparing them to her own with her backpack straps as she absentmindedly began fooling around with her belt.

"Leaf? Red? Are you two here?" A voice whom Pyra quickly recognized as Professor Oak's asked.

"Yes, Professor." Both replied simultaneously, with Leaf stepping up to Red's side.

"I'm here too." Pyra muttered under her breath, careful so no one but herself would hear her as she made her way to Leaf's right.

Her heart sped up with excitement when she caught sight of the esteemed professor. "Hello, Professor." She greeted somewhat shyly.

Professor Oak gave a curious smile, "Leaf, Red, who's this?"

"Professor, this is my sister, Pyra. She just came back from Sinnoh." Leaf explained.

"So that's your name? No wonder you're Leafy's sister with that name." A familiar voice said smugly.

"Gary." Professor Oak said, his tone harboring a slight warning to it.

The boy strode up to Professor Oak's side, a smirk worn proudly on his face. "Well it's true. Same goes with Fire, just because he goes by Red doesn't make his name any less strange."

The three teenagers glared at Gary until Professor Oak broke the tension. "Leaf, Red, Pyra. I don't know if Gary told you or not, but I've decided to give him a Pokémon, and I planned on giving the other two to Leaf and Red… but I can get one for Pyra as well."

Leaf and Pyra exchanged excited glances, while Red gave a slight smile.

"Thank you, Professor." Pyra said quickly, followed by Leaf's and Red's thanks.

Gary rolled his eyes at the three as the Pokémon Professor spoke once more, "Pyra, Leaf. You may go first, then for the boys, I have a fourth Pokémon available for a starter Pokémon." Professor Oak nodded at the long metal table behind him and Gary.

Pyra and Leaf stumbled forward, earning a smirk from Gary and an unreadable look from Red. Both flushed a little in embarrassment, but carried on until they got to the table.

"Which one do you want?" Pyra asked, already knowing her sister's answer.

Leaf scoffed and gave Pyra's shoulder a light shove, "you know which one I want."

"I know, I know." She grinned, watching as Leaf gripped Bulbasaur's pokéball off the table.

Leaf backed away from the table with the sphere in hand, a wide grin etched into her features. Pyra smiled as she picked her personal favorite, charmander, off the table. "I pick Charmander." She announced proudly as she joined Leaf.

Red slowly began to make his way over to the table only for Gary to beat him there, swiping the last pokéball off the table. "Looks like you get the pidgey or rattata." Gary smirked, holding Squirtle's pokéball up high.

The boy looked to Professor Oak, who pulled another pokéball from his lab coat, placing it in Red's hand. "It's a pikachu, an electric type." He informed as Red examined the red and white ball in his hand.

"Thank you, professor." Red said shortly.

The professor nodded, watching as the new trainers began to release their Pokémon into the lab.

Leaf gazed at her bulbasaur with adoration, rubbing its bulb as it purred, leaning into her touch. "I'm calling you Lilac." She smiled, moving from her bulb to behind her ear, earning louder purrs from the grass starter.

"That's a dumb name." Gary muttered as he observed his squirtle.

"Well what are you naming yours?" Leaf asked, a defensive look replacing her former beam.

"Nicknaming your Pokémon is pointless, so I'm not naming mine." Gary replied curtly.

"Every trainer has a way of showing their Pokémon that they care, Gary. Leaf just shows hers through nicknaming." Red said quietly, stroking Pikachu as it perched itself on his shoulder. Pikachu gave a content cry, its red cheeks sparking in contentment.

Pyra nodded her agreement as she watched her charmander, "yep. That's why I'm naming Charmander Draco."

Before Gary could retort, Professor Oak spoke again to break the argument before it escalated.

"How about you four battle? It would be good to try it out around the lab before you go out into the tall grass." Professor Oak suggested, gesturing towards the doors of the lab.

"Sounds good, Gramps," Gary said, glancing at Pyra, "I'll battle Pyra."

Pyra grimaced, realizing that he'd have the advantage with a squirtle with her using Draco, however, she wasn't one to back down to people. "Sure, let's go." She said confidently, with Draco waving his tail-flame around to match her attitude.

XXX

"Squirtle, tackle!" Gary commanded, his eyes glittering with arrogance as he called the first attack.

"Squirt!" Squirtle cried, running at Draco headfirst.

"Step to the side then scratch!" Pyra called, watching as Draco stumbled awkwardly to the side, grazing the side of Squirtle's head with his sharp claws.

Squirtle let out a cry of pain as his trainer called out another task, "tackle again!"

Pyra froze up as the water type slammed into Draco, throwing him a few feet away. A dust cloud covered the fire type, with only his tail flame being visible through the debris. Her breath hitched in her throat, not knowing what to do now.

"Hit it again!" Gary said confidently as Squirtle rammed into Draco again, sending the charmander hurtling into the wall of the lab.

"Draco?" Pyra asked quietly, her whole body shaking when she didn't see the fire type get up.

Red approached Draco, glancing at Pyra's Pokémon before shooting Pyra an apologetic glance. Pyra had lost.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Breaking free… again

Viola let out a shrill cry, lifting a single paw into the air and tilting her head cutely as Pyra spooned the oran berry soup past her parted lips. Pyra stared dolefully at the fire type, "you wouldn't want this. Besides, you already ate. Just go play with Lilac and Draco."

The Vulpix huffed and made her way to Leaf, putting on the same show.

Leaf rose an eyebrow, "now Viola, you know I'm not a sucker. Go bug mom, she'll crack."

"Pix!" Viola cried, rushing towards Mrs. Green, who sighed and immidately got up to get Viola a bowl.

Pyra sighed and started playing with the soup, scooping up chunks of berry and letting them fall back into the broth with a splash. She was still upset with herself for failing so miserably on her _very first battle. _Pyra hadn't even had a Pokémon for more than ten minutes and it already fainted. She wouldn't be surprised if the Charmander hated her now. So far the lizard-like Pokémon hadn't shown her any resentment, but Pyra still suspected that Draco held some sort of grudge against her now.

"Pyra, are you still upset? Relax, it was your first time battling! I basically lost against Red." Leaf offered in between sips.

"But at least you had a draw with a decent person who's not going to rub it in your face at any chance he gets! Damn it I should've said no to it." Pyra muttered.

"Pyra Green, we do not use foul language like that in this house! Oh why did I let you stay with Bebe? I should've known that you living in such a big city like Hearthome would only get you into trouble-" Pyra's mother began.

"I'm a teenager, mother, I'm going to curse." She muttered, twirling her spoon around in the bowl.

Leaf quickly fell quiet as though she knew what was going to happen, her face glancing nervously into her bowl. The air in the room grew stale, leaving Leaf to marinate in awkward soup while Pyra and their mother had their gazes locked in a leering contest.

"Are you _talking back _to me?"

Pyra leveled her gaze, an eerie sea of calm drowning out any rage that had been present on her features. She now challenged Mrs. Green in a different way. "Perhaps."

Mrs. Green got to her feet, anger twisting her face up. "Get up." She growled, sending Viola backing away from her bowl towards Lilac and Draco.

Pyra shrugged, inwardly smirking at the sight of Mrs. Green's anger spiking at the gesture. The girl got up, sweeping some of her blonde hair behind her shoulder. "Yes?" She asked lightly, acting as though the two were having a different conversation.

"Who do you think you are? Talking to your _mother _like that?" She seethed, her glare boring into Pyra's face.

Pyra gazed calmly at her mother, blinking slowly. "I'm no one important."

Her mother seemed to shake at that, "look at yourself! You're not even sorry! You've always been like this, you're a freaking robot! You don't feel remorse, you never cry, you don't do anything!"

That last bit got to Pyra, making her stomach wrench and turn. _A robot? _That was new.

Pyra gave another blink, no words ever escaping her lips.

Mrs. Green stamped her foot, "great, that's just great! Now I look like the bad guy because I'm yelling at you, even though you're the one who started this!"

Pyra pointed slowly towards herself, "me? I'm the one who started yelling?"

"Sit down, Pyra!" She snapped.

Pyra was tempted to sit, but in the time she was gone, she'd adopted a rather stubborn streak. Besides, Mrs. Green was overreacting, and Pyra didn't feel that it was necessary to listen to a person not in their right of mind.

"I'm not hungry anymore." She muttered, casting Leaf a glance as she walked towards the door. Draco quickly left Viola's and Lilac's side and followed the girl to the door. Pyra didn't take notice of the lizard-like Pokémon.

"Pyra stop! Get back here and sit down! I didn't pay for your plane ticket and go all the way to the market to make _your _favorite meal just for you to do this!" Her mother shouted furiously, marching towards Pyra until she hit the edge of the table.

Pyra turned and faced her mother and sister, her features holding no sensible regret. "Well I'm leaving for good now, mother. So I'll say damn it however many times I want when I want!" She spat, her voice finally rising for the first time in the argument. Pyra gripped her backpack in her fists and stepped outside, slamming the door shut. She knew coming home was a dumb idea.

She smiled a little despite her fuming when she realized that Draco had come with her. "You came with me? Even after I let that Squirtle toss you around?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Char." Draco responded, smiling as though the small altercation between his trainer and his trainer's mother hadn't happened.

Pyra's smile vanished as she shook her head somewhat violently. "No. I failed you, you should hate me, Draco. But I'll make it up to you! I'll make sure we never lose again, Draco. Pyra Green doesn't lose and neither do you." She said firmly, her eyes trained on the ground with her fists clenched tightly.

Draco gave her a confused look. "Charmander?"

Pyra didn't seem to hear the fire type. She cast a glare at her mother's house, "I should've known that coming home was a bad idea from the start! I should have just journeyed in the Sinnoh region. Then you wouldn't have such an awful trainer, and I could've traveled with Haze and Blake and just talked to Leaf and mom through the computers at the pokécenters. Everything would've just started out better. Curse my human heart for wanting to come home!"

The Charmander looked slightly stunned at Pyra's words, watching the girls emotions unravel before him. It was quite tragic really.

She glanced at Draco, "just remember this, Draco, there is nothing worse than the feeling of regret. We haven't gone anywhere together so far, and we've already been plagued by it's horrible, bitter taste on day one."

Draco quietly smacked his maw together as though he tried to taste the feeling as Pyra had described it.

Pyra slung the backpack onto her shoulders squared her feet up in preparation to walk back to route one. "Let's get going. It'd be nice if we could make it to the Pokécenter by morning so we can grab a hot meal and squeeze some training in before we go to the Viridian Forest."

She yielded a faint smile when the dragon-like Pokémon nodded. Happy with the Pokémon's pliability to the sudden change of plans, she began walking out of the small town once again, only this time, she wasn't alone.

XXX

"Strike with your tail!" Pyra called, her irises blazing as Draco fought with a Pidgey.

"Mander!" Draco growled, his chest heaving from throwing so many missed scratches as he thrust his tail flame onto the bird-like Pokémon's wing.

The Pidgey screeched in pain, kicking up more sand in Draco's face in a feeble attempt to deter him from doing it any more harm. Draco would have none of that, raking the bird again without Pyra's command.

Pyra frowned slightly at the action, although she should've known Draco would go off without her. Most Charmander and their evolutions were haughty and tended to push their trainer's limits. It was similar to Snivy in a sense, ditching their trainer if they felt they were unworthy. She furrowed her brows at the thought, knowing she would have to establish a better pecking order with Draco; it didn't matter if he was quiet natured. A Charmander is a Charmander forever and always.

"Draco, finish it with scratch." Pyra said, smiling as Draco delivered the final blow.

Draco gave a proud huff, observing the fallen Pokémon for a brief moment before staring back at Pyra expectantly.

Pyra nodded her approval, deciding to let the impulsive attacks that her Pokémon used slide for the time being. "Excellent work." She praised, walking towards Draco and giving him a swift pat on the head as she looked him over. "Alright, let's go stop by the Pokémart and pick up some potions and antidotes."

He merely stared at her before looking back at the Pidgey.

The blonde shrugged at the Charmander's action, deciding that it would only be natural for the creature to watch a Pidgey with that sort of intensity. She was almost certain that he would've gone further than knocking it out had he not been a tame Pokémon. The thought of Draco eating the Pidgey sent little shivers down her spine, making her wonder if she should've let Red have Draco and taken the Pikachu instead. Like Leaf, Pyra was a vegetarian, as it felt wrong to eat the Pokémon that are easily trainable. Pidgey for example was common for both training and eating; it seemed to send mixed messages to the bird Pokémon. She gritted her teeth at the thought, wondering how people could be so… _heartless_. Shaking her head lightly, Pyra silently chided herself, she already knew the answer to that. It was stupid to ponder about.

Pyra began walking towards Viridian city, motioning for Draco to follow. Draco hesitated for a brief moment, his nostrils flaring as he breathed in the Pidgey's scent one last time before reluctantly leaving it behind to follow Pyra.

She nodded approvingly when Draco caught up to her, pleased that despite she cost him his first real battle, he had chosen her over a Pidgey. Pyra smiled quietly to herself, for that was a far larger accomplishment than just letting the bird Pokémon live; Draco had pushed his instincts away and followed her command. The mere thought made her blood roar and her heart pound, never had she felt so much power.

Back in Sinnoh, Haze was the one who called the shots. Perhaps it was because he had a Pokémon while Blake and Pyra didn't. He would show off by having his Pokémon, a Murkrow he called Dusk, battle trainers and coordinators who were passing by Hearthome to challenge Fantina's gym or to compete in the grand contest hall. Haze greatly impressed Pyra with every battle he fought, making her beam even when he would lose, which wasn't often. She gave a small smile as she remembered some of the battles, regretting not savoring every moment of him, his Murkrow, and his battle technique. She was a fool.

Pyra looked down at her shoes as she recalled all the trouble he'd gotten her in over the years. While Haze was her closest friend, it didn't mean he was the best influence. Right from the start Haze wasn't good for her or Blake. At first, when Pyra was eleven along with Blake while Haze was twelve, Pyra would refuse to take part in a lot of their activities, her mother's teachings still fresh in her mind; she promised Mrs. Green that she'd be careful. So Pyra would simply watch Blake and Haze from afar while they would push other people, mainly kids their own age, around. They would usually go after kids with Pokémon, as they were the ones most likely to have money; if those kids would put up a fight and wouldn't give in no matter how many times he or she was thrown against the ground, then Haze would demand a battle, often times winning with ease thanks to Dusk. After a while, Pyra joined in, aiding them. She would threaten people, adding another layer of pressure to their victims. The memory made Pyra stiff, as she felt a similar sense of empowerment back then too. Of course, Haze took most of the credit. He always did. And over the years, their actions escalated to satisfy that ever growing ego of his. It went all the way up to armed robbery. They were never caught, but that didn't change the fact that Pyra did it. She was the one who kept watch at the front door, so technically she never stole anything, but the guilt still haunted her.

Pyra snapped herself free of the heavy thoughts, blinking slowly when she saw that she'd entered Viridian City and hadn't noticed. Draco peered up at her expectantly, the lick of fire on his tail carelessly tossing embers about as it swayed from left to right; it reminded Pyra of the way Haze would flick his cigarette ash when she would walk with him and Blake.

Remaining silent, Pyra started towards the Pokémart. She knew the blue building was tucked over where the Viridian City gym used to reside, as she'd scouted the place out when the plane she'd arrived on landed. Pyra recalled Leaf saying that their mother had come to the market in Viridian earlier that day. She chuckled at the thought, happy that fate had kept the two apart in their time in the smaller city.

Pushing through the smudged glass doors of the mart, Pyra and Draco entered the cubicle. Pyra stepped around the display cabinets and stood directly in front of the check-out counter. A man around thirty or so years old stared at her for a moment before diverting his attention to Draco.

"You from Pallet Town?" He asked suddenly.

"Yes sir." Pyra replied.

A smile crossed his face, "great, then would you mind delivering this package to Professor Oak?" He placed a cardboard box on the counter, sliding it towards Pyra, who stopped it before it could fall off.

"Sure." She muttered, figuring that the Professor wanted his package.

He nodded at her, "thank you."

Pyra then left the market with Draco at her heels, her orbs glancing at the sky. It was a mixture of orange and pink now, the sun cloaked by soft yellowish clouds. She decided against spending the night in Viridian City, as she would be tempted to ditch the package at the Pokécenter and push on through the Viridian Forest.

She looked at Draco, who eyed the package with mild suspicion. "Let's get this over with."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: A long night

By the time Pyra and Draco made it back to Pallet Town, the air was opaque and rather chilly, tickling the girl's skin. Little bumps coated her exposed flesh, earning an irritated grunt from Pyra; normally she never got cold. She looked at the package her fingers had latched onto, wondering what was inside it. It was horribly tempting to open it.

The moon and Draco's tail flame lit the way to Oak's laboratory, the conflicting glows reflecting off the door handle. Pyra's fingers widened around the door's handle, tugging lightly at it. Much to her relief, it opened with little resistance.

Bright lights assaulted Pyra's orbs as soon as she stepped in, voices echoing off the walls of the rather petite lab.

"What? What do you mean the package isn't here yet?" The voice that Pyra had learned to hate asked, laced in obvious irritation.

"It was a mix up, Gary-"

"Then why'd you call us all here?" He asked irately.

"I called you here so you wouldn't all run off before the package got here, Pyra already left and I didn't want to send my lab aids on a wild Swanna-chase to find all of you." The professor said.

Pyra could almost see Gary smirk, "figures she left, probably realized she wasn't good enough."

Pyra flinched at his words; he was right, she wasn't good enough. She wasn't pretty enough, she wasn't strong enough, she wasn't smart enough. The girl sucked in a breath to calm herself, gnawing on her cheek until she tasted copper in a feeble attempt to keep herself from crying. Pyra didn't notice Draco's confused look as he watched his trainer. Her irises glanced at the package in her hands as she set it on the ground, whatever was in it, she didn't deserve it.

She then heard Leaf's voice, she sounded angry, a rare treat for Pyra or anyone else to hear. Pyra was almost tempted to stick around, listen to what everyone had to say about her, but she decided it wasn't worth it. She nodded at Draco, silently instructing him to follow her as she pushed the doors open.

The two walked right back down route one, the darkness swallowing them whole.

XXX

Pyra sat in front of a PC in a white T-shirt and sweatpants, her definition of pajamas, as she waited. About a half hour ago Pyra had checked into the Pokécenter, taking a room meant for two people to sleep in because all the single rooms were full. Nurse Joy had warned her that if another single traveler came to the center asking for a room that she would have to share, but that wasn't likely because of the late hour.

As the wait increased, Pyra explored the possibility that Haze hadn't made it to a Pokécenter before nightfall, but she quickly dismissed it. Haze was an efficient person, far from a slacker in her eyes. She had a feeling that he'd made it to a Pokécenter by now. Besides, Pyra knew that if Haze for some reason didn't pick up, she'd try for Blake, as he'd most likely be in Professor Rowan's lab. She just had to talk to someone she knew she could confide in; although Haze and Blake weren't sensitive or anything like that, they would still listen to her if she had something to get off her chest. Just as Pyra was about to stop calling Haze, the screen lit up.

The familiar face of Haze flashed on the PC; his dark blue, almost black hair untidy as though he had been asleep before Pyra had called; and his viridian orbs were clouded with exhaustion. "Pyra." He greeted.

Pyra could barely keep the smile on her face from growing out of proportion. "Hi, Haze!" Pyra beamed, well aware that she sounded like a happy-go-lucky buffoon.

Haze gave a light chuckle, "what's got you in such a great mood?"

"It's just been a long day. I got my first Pokémon." Pyra said, quickly steering the conversation away from how her day had gone.

"Oh yeah? Which one?" He asked, looking elsewhere in the Pokécenter he was in; he was obviously humoring her.

Pyra pretended not to notice his lack of enthusiasm. "Charmander of course!"

Haze cupped one of his hands over his mouth as he tried to stifle a yawn. "Great, now why couldn't this have waited until morning? I've been busy today, walked all the way to Solaceon Town with Dusk; I even managed to snag a Duskull while I was at it."

Her excitement was watered down by his words. Haze seemed to have a much more productive first day, capturing a Pokémon, not losing to some obnoxious boy he didn't know. Solaceon Town was also a longer walk than Viridian City was from Pallet Town. Pyra should've known, Haze was always great at everything he did.

Much to her surprise, Haze leaned towards the screen a little, his eyes narrowed into a squint. "What the hell's wrong with your eyes?"

Pyra blushed as she realized that she had already taken off her green contacts, "sorry, I was actually going to turn in for the night, so I took off my contacts."

He nodded, but he didn't look very pleased. "Just put them back on in the morning, you look horrible without them," Haze's gaze shifted to Pyra's hair, a slight grimace forming on his features, "and you're looking more like a brunet. Fix your hair tomorrow."

Pyra subconsciously ran a hand over her hair, her heart racing as Haze pointed out her physical flaws. "S-sorry, I didn't realize it was that bad already-"

"Well it is. Just fix it, okay?" Haze sighed.

"Right." She murmured, looking down at her hands.

"And when are you going to come back to Sinnoh?" He asked somewhat sharply.

Pyra blinked, "pardon?"

Haze sighed impatiently. "Surely you've figured out by now that Kanto sucks ass."

"No… I actually wasn't planning on coming back to Sinnoh until I was done traveling Kanto if you don't mind." Pyra responded quietly as she twiddled her fingers.

She flinched under Haze's harsh gaze. "What happened to the promise you made me when we were younger? Blake already broke his, which I expected because the little bastard's never been faithful to me or you. But you? Pyra, you've done whatever I've asked since I met you. You've kept every damn promise you've made to me, and most of those were stupid as hell. But the one promise I actually cared about was the one you made to me when you specifically said that you would journey with me. Are you going to break that promise?" He asked icily, his eyes flashing.

Pyra drew in a shaky breath, as Haze had found her weak spot. He was right, she always kept her promises; her gaze hardened a little. It was her life, if she wanted to travel Kanto, then she would travel Kanto. "I… I guess some promises are made to be broken, Haze."

She instantly regretted her previous sentence. Haze glared at her, and it wasn't the typical good natured glare he'd usually do towards her. He was livid. "F*ck you!"

The screen went black promptly afterwards.

Pyra bit her lip, putting all her energy into stopping the tears that were budding at her brown irises. That was the first time Haze had really yelled at her. Sure, he'd lower his voice in a darker, more ominous way, but he would never go further; Blake would always tell her that Haze had a soft spot for her.

It was also the first time she'd stuck up to someone who wasn't Mrs. Green.

"Um… you okay?" A voice asked from behind Pyra.

Pyra nearly leapt out of her skin, turning her head to see a girl around her age. She immidately felt envy burn hot in her heart: the girl possessed a natural beauty that she didn't. The girl had pretty, plush-looking green hair that cascaded over her shoulders in gentle, neat waves with lovely cerulean orbs topped off with pale, blemish-free skin. Pyra's gaze traveled away from her face to her clothes. The girl clearly hadn't changed into pajamas. She wore a sky blue tank-top with a white vest overtop it and mud-splattered jeans.

Pyra cleared her throat. "Yes."

The girl sheepishly stared at her sneakers. "Sorry, I just happened to hear the last bit of your conversation-"

"You were watching me?" Pyra asked accusingly.

She looked taken back and panicked, "n-no!"

"Whatever," Pyra muttered, stiffly getting out of her chair.

The girl watched Pyra as she made her way to the hall that led to her room. Pyra didn't like the feeling of being observed, it rattled her a little. She flashed the girl a slight frown before disappearing down the hallway.

XXX

Pyra yawned as she set Draco's pokéball on the bedside-table beside the bed she'd taken. Her eyes were still foggy looking from how her conversation with Haze had gone, she didn't know why it bothered her so much, Haze said that sort of thing to a lot of people. "But never me." She muttered as she drew back the plain-looking cream sheets on the bed she'd chosen.

She sighed when she remembered what Haze had said about her hair, getting off the bed and dragging herself into the bathroom. Pyra flicked the lights on in the dark room, squinting a little as the darkness was suddenly washed away. She came closer to the mirror, tilting her head to the side and angling her head so she could see the roots of her hair in the mirror. She gritted her teeth when she saw the ashy-brown hair she'd come to hate sprouting out of her head. Her usual blonde color came up the majority of her head, stopping only a few inches away from her scalp. Haze was right, just like always. She then shifted her attention to her brown orbs. The more she looked at them, the more they looked like a hazel color than brown; but they were still at least brownish. Ugly, ugly, plain _brown_. She disgusted herself with the foul, boring combination of brown and brown.

Pyra preferred the mask Haze had helped her create for herself. The pretty, fun, and outgoing blonde with the twinkling green eyes who wasn't afraid to get her hands a little dirty.

Shaking her head in disappointment towards herself, Pyra turned the light off and left the bathroom, plopping herself on the bed.

Having only just sat on the bed, Pyra sighed when there was a knock at the door. Groaning in irritation, Pyra got up and answered the door. Nurse Joy stood in before her with the same girl who had eavesdropped on her conversation moments earlier.

"Ms. Green, you remember our agreement about you staying in this room, right?" She asked as politely as she could.

Breathing a sigh, Pyra nodded, her gaze locking with the green haired girl's. "Yes, I remember."

Nurse Joy smiled, "great, well then surely you won't mind Ms. Indigo staying with you."

Gritting her teeth and faking a smile, Pyra nodded again. "I wouldn't mind at all."

The nurse turned to the girl. "Alright, enjoy your stay." She then patted the girl's shoulder and left the room. The door closed with a long, dragged out creaking sound.

The two of them awkwardly stared at each other until the green haired girl spoke. "I'm sorry!" She blurted, her cheeks suddenly heating up with embarrassment.

Pyra simply raised an eyebrow at her. "Okay?"

She cleared her throat, "I mean, I'm sorry if you mistook me overhearing your conversation for eavesdropping. I didn't mean for it to come across as me being some stalker." The girl extended a hand, "I'd like to start over if it's alright with you. I'm Sage. What's your name?"

Pyra stepped forward, eyeing her warily as she shook her hand. "Pyra."

Sage seemed elated and relieved at Pyra's response. "Nice to meet you, Pyro."

Pyra sighed, "Pyr_a_. With an 'a'."

"Sorry! Pyra_._" Sage said honestly, her blue eyes round with uncertainty.

Pyra waved her off, "It's really fine, I know it's a really strange name. I personally blame my mother, but she was young and stupid when she had me and my sister. Last time I asked her about my name, she said I should've been named Naomi and my sister should've been Clair."

"A sister?" She asked, "what's her name?"

"Leaf. Now that's enough for tonight," Pyra yawned as she climbed into bed and turned off the lamp, "I'm hitting the hay."

Sage turned the light back on, earning a glare from Pyra. "Hold on," she murmured, "just let me let Aria out for the night and change out of my traveling clothes real quick, then I'll turn the light back off."

Pyra huffed as she watched Sage set three pokéballs on her bedside-table. Pyra must've been looking at them with obvious interest, as Sage said, "I have an Eevee, Dodrio, and Steelix if you were wondering."

"Oh." She said sleepily. "Is the Eevee called Aria?"

Sage nodded as she pulled pajamas out of her bag, "yup. Aria was my first Pokémon, I've had her since the day I was born actually." Her gaze flickered to the other two pokéballs. "Then there's Roxanne, my Steelix, and I named the heads on my Dodrio Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi." She finished.

"Oh yeah?" Pyra yawned, clearly uninterested.

Sage nodded tiredly as she began to walk towards the bathroom, taking no notice to Pyra's disinterest in her. Sage left the door cracked as she set her clean set of clothes on the counter, sticking her head out the door for a moment. "And don't fall asleep before I get back, I want to hear about your Pokémon too." She smiled before closing the door.

Pyra rolled her eyes, pulling the sheets over her face and quickly letting sleep claim her.

XXX

When Pyra woke up, she was alone. Sage had left. She smiled at that and climbed out of bed, lazily tossing the sheets back over the mattress; unlike Sage's which had been neatly tidied up and seemed to leave no trace of her ever spending the night.

Pyra quickly changed out of her pajamas and got herself together before grabbing Draco off the bedside table along with her belongings. She had made sure to put her contacts back on.

Once out of the room, Pyra let Draco out in the hallway.

"Char." Draco greeted Pyra with a yawn, looking up at her expectantly.

"Morn'n, Draco," she mumbled, her voice heavy with sleep, "wanna grab something to eat? It's going to be a long day of wandering through the forest."

At the mention of food, the lizard-like Pokémon perked up, licking his lips as he nodded. Pyra smiled at the quiet Pokémon's enthusiasm, starting down the hall until she reached the lobby of the center. Her gaze landed near the PCs where she'd talked to Haze the night before, her smile melting away. She nearly forgot what she was doing in the lobby until Draco began to pad into the room ahead of the PCs.

Blinking the thoughts away, Pyra followed her Pokémon into the kitchen. It wasn't surprising to Pyra that most of the tables were filled up, as she wasn't able to get a single room the night before. Shrugging off the overall crowdedness of the room, Pyra walked to the small line in front of the breakfast buffet and grabbed a tray.

Her eyes rested on the food in front of her: waffles, pancakes, bacon, eggs, bagels, French toast, doughnuts, doughnut holes, tons of assorted fruits, muffins, potatoes, and grits.

Pyra greedily put a little bit of everything besides the bacon onto her plate, ignoring the weird glance that the guy next to her shot her. She looked ahead to see where the Pokémon food was; it was just after the human food in little depressions in the counters similar to where soup would be kept.

When she reached the Pokémon food, she grabbed food bowl for Draco and scooped fire-type food into it, piling it high as she remembered how healthy his apatite was back at the Green household. Setting the bowl onto her own tray beside her mountain of breakfast food. She then lifted the tray and began walking around the room in search of an empty table.

"Charmander!" Draco cried out suddenly, making Pyra jump a little.

The fire type gestured to the a bench that sat outside on the street through a window in the kitchen. He looked back at Pyra for approval. To his joy, she smiled at Draco, heading for the door. The Charmander followed closely behind.

XXX

It was cool outside, making Pyra grateful for Draco's tail flame as she settled on the cold bench. She set the large tray of food beside her, taking Draco's food off the tray and setting it on the ground beside him. Draco smiled at Pyra, hooking a chunk onto a claw and plucking it off with his teeth.

Pyra moved the tray onto her lab, popping a doughnut hole into her mouth. The two sat in silence as they ate, the only other noises being from trainers going in and out of the center. She was a little surprised that no one else ate outside; it wasn't all that bad.

Turns out, she wasn't the only one eating outside after all. "Pyra?"

Pyra turned to her right to see the girl who'd shared her room with her, Sage, sitting on the curb a few feet away. An Eevee sat beside her, nibbling on some Pokémon food.

Pyra nodded at Sage, "in the flesh." She then turned her attention to a rather large waffle that hid a good amount of the food beneath itself. Pyra speared it with a fork and cut a small bit away with a knife, barely noticing when Sage and the Eevee moved their stuff to where Pyra and Draco sat. Sage took a seat beside Pyra on the bench while the Eevee sat close to Draco.

"So that's your Pokémon?" She asked, taking a bite out of a pecha berry.

She again nodded, still focused on the waffle. Pyra cut another rather large hunk of it out and stuffed it in her mouth.

"Do you nickname your Pokémon?" Sage questioned as she swallowed her bite of pecha.

Pyra gave a quiet sigh, catching on that Sage wasn't about to let her eat in peace. "Yes. I named him Draco."

"Cool, do you have any other Pokémon? And Pidgey or Rattata?"

"Nope. Just Draco." She muttered as she continued to consume the waffle. "And that's all I'll ever have."

Sage looked oddly at Pyra, completely oblivious to her irritation. "Why not? Draco's going to get lonely without any other Pokémon to play with."

"He has me." Pyra replied simply, still not looking at the girl sitting beside her.

"Well yes, but… what if you are battling a ground or water type? Surely you would want to keep your Charmander out of that."

She shrugged, "then we'll overpower it. Type advantage isn't everything. Besides, without other Pokémon to slow us down on training, it'll only be Draco battling and thus he'll grow quickly and be able to handle those sort of things."

"Char." Draco chirped in agreement, tossing Pyra a quick glance before going back to his bowl.

Sage watched Draco with a look of slight envy, "You know, for just getting that Charmander he really must like and trust you."

Pyra rose an eyebrow at Sage, half looking at her, "How do you know that I just got him?"

"I-I don't know, it just- I assumed that you just got him because, well a Charmander is a starter and you don't have any badges that I can see or other Pokémon." Sage said, automatically petting her Eevee when it hopped onto her lap, done with its food.

Pyra slowly nodded her head, shifting her attention to the Eevee, "So is that Aria?" She asked casually.

Sage nodded, "Yeah, remember last night? You already asked that."

"Sorry, I was really tired back there." She mumbled, finishing the giant waffle and moving onto an oran berry.

She shrugged, setting her sights on a chocolate doughnut. "It's not a big deal."

Sage took a bite out of the pastry and glanced at Pyra again, "say, you wouldn't happen to be going through the Viridian Forest would you?"

"Um… yeah why?" Pyra asked warily.

Sage stared at the chocolate frosting on her doughnut, "oh, it's nothing. I was just wondering if you would mind if I tagged along? Just until Pewter City! It's just I… I'm sort of afraid of bug Pokémon. Anything with wings really."

Pyra rose an eyebrow, "you have a Dodrio don't you?"

She nodded. "Yes, it's the only bird Pokémon I can stand to have since it's flightless. I mean, I guess I could have Piplup because they don't fly either…" Sage's voice trailed off as she spoke.

"Fair enough. For a while, I was afraid of ghost types," Pyra admitted as she recalled meeting Fantina's Mismagius back in Hearthome City.

Pyra was thirteen at the time, and had of course been with Blake and Haze when it happened. The three were walking to Fantina's gym because Haze wanted to battle her with Dusk. When they got there though, the gym was closed as it was after eight 'O clock. Haze wasn't very happy about it, so Blake tried upping the mood a little by joking around saying that they could sneak into the gym. And Haze being Haze, agreed with him. Pyra and Blake tried defusing the idea as it had never left Blake's lips. It didn't work.

Haze picked the lock on the gym door and used some brick that he'd found that had been worn off the path to smash the security cameras. He wanted to leave a message for Fantina so he would be guaranteed a battle. Blake and Pyra had hung back mostly, feeling uncomfortable vandalizing at the time. The three had managed to slowly break into each door until they reached the room where Fantina would await her challengers.

Pyra had been waiting by the door, ready to sprint out if anyone came inside; Blake was somewhat closer to Pyra, not daring to speak another word after what happened last time. Haze stood in front of the chair that Fantina would sit in, a cold look in his eyes as he conjured up ideas. Finally, Pyra decided she wanted to really impress Haze, so she wiped the nervous look on her face away and came to his side. He appeared to take no notice to Pyra's presence until he spoke to her.

"I think I've got an idea," Haze had begun, glancing briefly at Pyra before refocusing on the chair. Without another word, he released his Murkrow, who let out an eerie caw before perching upon Haze's shoulder.

"Can I help?" Pyra asked somewhat shyly, watching Haze as he stared at Dusk for a moment.

Haze didn't respond in the same way she'd expected. He turned and faced Blake, "see, Blake? _This _is what you should be doing. Try being more useful in the near future, got it?"

Blake paid the comment no heed, still watching the two intently; a blank look in his eyes.

Pyra still didn't know why she had been surprised, Haze had been saying that sort of stuff for a while now. Finally, he answered Pyra's question. "No, this is a job that only a Pokémon can do." He said, frowning a little when Pyra's face fell.

He then had nodded at Dusk, "use wing attack-"

It was then when the angry wail of Mismagius filled the room, cutting Haze's order short. The ghost Pokémon took shape just in front of the two as though it had been hovering above Fantina's chair. It leered at the teenagers in the room, its eyes glowing an ominous purple as it wailed and screeched. All but Dusk was then lifted into the air as the Mismagius used psychic. Every second the Pokémon's mental grasp on them seemed to worsen as it squeezed them tightly. Pyra knew she was the first to black out and the last to wake up. Luckily, when she had awoken, the three were back on the street beside the gym. It was still pitch dark out.

Blake and Haze had waited for her to fully regain consciousness before talking about what they were to do next. They had acted like the incident had never occurred.

"Pyra! Pyraaaaa!" Sage said loudly, snapping her fingers in front of her face.

Pyra blinked the memory away, coming back to reality.

Sage looked a little frustrated, but kept her cool nonetheless. "So are we traveling through the forest together or what?"

To her own surprise, Pyra nodded. "Yep."


End file.
